Data in the public interest

Decisions affecting everybody are conditioned by statistics. The Society’s participation to address the public interest in this area is broad, and considers the role of statisticians, data and analysis in democracy as well as in specific areas such as data science, health and medicine, and the law. We support widening access to data to produce better research and analysis, and the release of more open data, alongside respect for individual privacy.

Our policy work in this area is informed by members of the Society and by wider consultation, and is coordinated by the Society’s policy and public affairs staff.

Topics covered include:

Data sharing between data holders and with third parties

Technical, scientific and statistical advice to policy (in a wide range of fields)